On Infinity's Wings
by Saraluna
Summary: 7 years after the Wind waker. The keeper of the winds faces a new threat, and battles his feelings for Valoo's beautiful attendant.


AU: This is based around LOZ: the Wind Waker, set several years after the events in that game. It centers around the relationship between Medli and Link, In their older teens. It's not completely romance though.

Disclaimer: The LOZ characters used in this story are not mine, they are only portrayed as I see fit. Any characters that you see here that are not from LOZ are mine. Please do not use them in your stories without permission. Lyrics from "your rain" are not mine either. I am also pretending in this story that Medli and the rest of the Ruto do not possess beaks….shifty eyes

_On the sidewalk_

_In the city_

_All my screams just a whisper_

_Busy people, going nowhere_

_See me soaking up rain………_

A lone Ruto Maiden stood on a ledge overlooking the great sea, a troubled look on her face. Her long rust colored hair hung all the way down, past her hips, gathered in a neat ponytail that curled at the ends. Wisps of it clung to her face. A freezing rain was shooting tumultuously from the sky, soaking all around her. Her sodden wings hung limping from her shoulders down to her elbows. Ruto wings normally repelled the water, but this maelstrom of bone chilling liquid pounded against her doggedly until even her wings could not unfurl and catch the air. But it probably would be useless anyways, considering the state of the wind itself. It gusted fiercely, changing directions every few moments. The teen's eyes where troubled. Why would the keeper of the winds allow them to reach such a state? Since the defeat of Ganon years ago, the Great Sea had had nothing but perfect weather.

She sat miserably on the cold stone of the ledge, gathering her soaked wings around her for pitiful protection. Oh well, she thought. All I can do now is wait it out. A pity Valoo chose today to tell her to bring his message to the Kokiri. Through the grey clouds and the wall of water in front of her, she could dimly make out the silhouette of Dragon roost, but she wasn't going to chance a death at sea to reach the Island. She wondered where the great dragon had gone. His stark impression against the sky was absent from the top of the mountain. She stared dimly out for what seemed like an eternity before movement in the achromatic mix of clouds and rain broke her out of her stupor. It was nothing but a smudge of darkness that seemed to be struggling against the winds, but its irregular movement had managed to catch her eye amongst the dreary monotony of the rest of the sky.

She kept her eyes fixed upon the slowly enlarging point of movement until it was close enough to make out what it was. Her curious look turned to one of anger, and she cursed under her breath.

"Komali, you _idiot_…….." She raised her wings, heavy with water as they where, and even this movement was an effort. She felt as though lead weights affixed to her arms. Wearily, she let a trembling shudder travel throughout her body, much like a dog shaking itself off after getting wet. She tried to raise herself into the air, her shoulders straining with the unaccustomed effort. But being the attendant of the great Valoo, she was both stronger than most Ruto because of her trips across the great sea, and descended from a line of attendants, all who had possessed powerful shoulder muscles. With effort, she heaved herself into the tsunami. The struggling form of Prince Komali was close enough for her to sea that he had at least taken precautions against the weather. His wings where still shiny with a water-repelling oil, and he was wearing a heavy outer cloak, the deep scarlet-mahogany color of the royal Tribe members. Well, that explained how he had gotten this far, she thought wryly.

Reaching her pupil was far more difficult than she thought. While Komali had the wind blowing at his back, thought sometimes causing him to tumble head over heels, it was a better advantage than the alternative. She, on the other hand, was struggling against the powerful current of air, and Komali did not seem to be getting any closer. Slowly, but surely, though, the Prince was getting closer to the ledge.

Komali Winced as another gust of silt being carried on the air stung his face. He could barely feel the excruciating burning in his shoulders and longer. He could no longer feel himself flapping his wings. _Medli………I have to reach her… _He saw dark sparks dancing on the edges of his vision. He was no longer aware of sight or feeling, nor of gravity's welcoming force carrying him along without struggle. His eyes closed, and the welcomed darkness enclosed him.

Medli was almost there….just a bit closer…….The Prince had suddenly stopped flying.

Oh Shit……….

Ignoring her protesting muscles, she wrenched herself forwards, and folded her wings, allowing herself to plummet towards the prince. She then spread her wings again, the force of her fall almost breaking them, and swooped down to catch the prince…..

Bloody _hell _he was heavy…..

Tears of effort sprang to her eyes, but she ignored them, and hauled her cargo towards the ledge of the cliff. The wind was at her back, a powerful force pushing her a little too forcefully forwards. A sudden whoosh of wind sent her flying towards the cliff, tearing Komali from her grasp. The cliff was coming to meet her. With the last vestiges of her strength, she spread her soaked wings and broke the force of air, swinging one arm up, she caught the edge of the cliff. Clinging by one hand, she cursed again. Her wings where soaked beyond the ability of flight. She had no idea where Komali was……She swung her other hand up to the edge to grasp it.

_I'm no good to him like this……_

She hung there for a few moments, breathing hard after the power of the storm. Then she began the grievous task of pulling herself up to the ledge. After a few failed tries, she collapsed, shivering and exhausted onto the hard stone. Relief washed over her. A very unconscious Komali lay sprawled similarly a few feet away. She sighed, and pulled herself to her feet, making her way over to his pitifully small form. A quick check with her nimble fingers, and she was relieved to find that none of his bones were broken. But the sky was darkening, and the weather getting colder. They would not be able to survive a night out in the freezing storm. Already, tiny shards if ice added their biting presence to the air that swirled around her. Hot tears came to her eyes. Flying was out of the Question. She had barely gotten out a few feet from the ledge, and that had been almost impossible. Komali was in no state to fly, and the wind was just getting stronger. Normally a good natured and Docile Ruto, she let out a livid curse for the third time that evening.

Brushing a few more Strands of hair away from her face, she willed herself to think about something other than the freezing rain that beat against her, something other than the numbness that was beginning to creep through her feet and fingers. She heard a groan from her left. Just what I need, she thought. Another distraction and an annoying one at that.

"Unngh…What happened?" He moaned, holding on hand to his head, and trying to gather his wings around his shivering frame.

"Well, _hero_ now we're both stranded here all night in the cold. Do I have to tell you what that means?" She tried to force as much poison into her voice as possible, but his pitiful drowned puppy look was a bit hard to ignore.

"I-I'm sorry….I was only trying to help you…."

This was too much. Medli lost it.

"Trying to HELP?! If you wanted to _help_ you should have stayed home! You could have been killed just TRYING to brave that storm, it's a miracle you weren't, and now we're both stuck here!! YOU IDIOT! I DON'T THINK YOU COMPREHEND WHAT DANGER WE'RE IN!" She stopped, panting to take a breath. Komali's chagrined look was almost worth the energy her tirade had required. He buried his head miserably in his wings, and curled into a ball. Medli almost apologized, but thought better of it and turned back to scan the barely visible horizon.

The Ruto Caverns were in an uproar. The storm screaming its defiance outside was only a small fraction of their worries. Some stood around, looking confused and disoriented, while others rushed about to help the chief sort out the mess. Snatches of conversation could be heard amongst the less-than-organized chaos.

"-Prince is gone…Hope he hasn't gotten himself into trouble _again_…"

"That poor girl…caught in this storm…"

"Even the chief has no idea where he is, and the only translator is supposedly caught in that storm."

"Keeper of the winds…they found…."

The Ruto chief was beside himself with worry and anxiety, but he hid this beneath his calm exterior. Medli, he could only hope, had found a kind enough island to give her a place to stay for the night, but Komali had seemed to think otherwise. His son, too, was now missing from the caverns. Komali had grown from a shy, inverted young Ruto, to a headstrong young Prince. He was very much like his now-dead mother. He jumped into things, heedless of himself or others. He relished challenges, especially ones where he could show up the other young Ruto men. His father was not clueless to his growing attraction to his former caretaker, Medli. She had become quite beautiful, and Komali was not her only suitor, but she expressed more interest in the old languages and legends of the great sea, and her relationship with Valoo, than any of the obviously love struck admirers that trailed her footsteps. I should have seen this coming, he thought. But sadly, a chief cannot devote all his thoughts to his child. He had other things to attend to.

The great dragon wind-spirit, Valoo, was missing from the crest of the rock that was his normal perch, but this did not worry the chief much. Valoo was not stupid or headstrong, like his son, and he would not have gone into a storm that he could not handle flight in. But this sudden change in the great sea's normally perfect weather was definitely a cause for concern.

Then, there was the boy…….

Medli's teeth chattered with cold. She and Komali had temporarily abandoned their feud, and now were huddled together; trying to conserve what little warmth they had left. Too numb to even notice the icy air that buffeted them about, the curled miserably closer. Is this how I go? Medli wondered, with a strange sense of detachment from the event. Oh, why did Komali have to come, she thought suddenly, jarring herself back to reality to peer at the young prince. He stiffened with stoic bravery, and closed his eyes. Hot tears escaped hers, and froze on her face. Was it her imagination that the wind was letting up? She glanced up through her blurred vision, and noticed a wraithlike shape nearby. It seemed to emanate a warmth uncharacteristic of something so small. She was beginning to get the feeling back to her fingers.

"Komali." She hissed. The prince's eyes opened, as he too began to notice the change in temperature, and the painful sensation of being jarred back to life. She trained her powerful eyes onto the shape. It seemed almost like a dark blur, hulking and shadowed, but with no real features. It seemed to undulate almost imperceptibly, changing form slowly without the realization of any eyes that watched it. An odd cackling sound permeated the air, which was cut short as a more familiar shape slammed into the shadow. Medli let out a startled gasp.

"Valoo!" The great dragon glanced in her direction and gave a slight nod, acknowledging her and Komali's presence on the cliff. The shape gave a furious scream, and with a sound like a whip cracking, it seemed to vanish into thin air. The icy temperature returned to the air. Medli shivered. Valoo was suspended in the air, staring at the space that had once held the sinister shape, the only sound in the chill air his wings beating to keep him aloft. After a few more moments, he flew over to the dejected pair of Ruto.

"Child…..Silly child." He said affectionately in the ancient language, sweeping the pair onto his back. Too cold and miserable to reply, Medli and Komali huddled against the fire warmed skin of the great dragon as he flew carelessly back towards the Ruto Caverns.

Author's notes: Like it? Don't? Please review and tell me if you want me to continue writing this!


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